One comes to things in so many ways. One comes to The Lemon Twigs by having a friend loco enough to teach for 30 years with an open mind and ears, all three wide enough ajar for a rock opera about a couple adopting a monkey and then enrolling him in a human high school. Sure, my buddy drives to Beloit a bunch, but procuring one thing does not necessarily procure the other, as the old saying never went.
Performed much as a musical rock opera with storyline and dialogue, The Lemon Twigs’ Go To School took me to school, wondering how I’d missed its release in 2018. But then I recalled I was then de facto Assistant Principal and in mid-burnout; the only music I was ingesting was the sound of my mind’s discordant dissolution. Don’t get me wrong, the students were wonderful and my colleagues doing their darndest, but, like Go To School by The Lemon Twigs, I had created a very tenuous balance of imagination, execution and delivery that for some worked magic, and for others…well, let’s just say the school’s done just fine without me. I, for one, adore Go To School and just bought the double LP on vinyl from the Lemon Twigs’ Bandcamp.
I’ll let 4AD, The Lemon Twigs label for Go To School summarize:
A Lemon Twigs musical conceived by brothers Brian and Michael D’Addario, the 15-track opus was written, recorded, produced and mixed by the pair at their home in Long Island.”
Go To School tells the heartbreaking coming-of-age story of Shane, a pure of heart chimpanzee raised as a human boy as he comes to terms with the obstacles of life. Todd Rundgren and the D’Addario’s mother Susan Hall play Shane’s parents. The album features contributions from Jody Stephens (Big Star) and their father Ronnie D’Addario.
I saw The Lemon Twigs live at Turner Hall Ballroom Thursday night. Was I hoping for Go To School in its entirety, perhaps with costume changes and an appearance by Todd Rundgren (who sings on the LP)? Hell yeah I was. Do The Lemon Twigs have a brand new batch of infectious singles and an entire album called Look For Your Mind! to be released in a week? Yes they do and, no, I am not a child, so yes, I knew they would play a variety of material, both new and old, but did I anticipate a Go To School shutout? A sh-sh-sh-sh-sh-sh-outout (listen to “The Fire” for a tasty slice of Go To School)? I did not.
Okay, I’ll slip from the saddle of my concept album high horse, and be glad: The Lemon Twigs sure can play, and they harmonize better than any band I’ve seen play live.
The Twigs can do anything they want, they’ve earned the right. Highly talented bands shift gears, burning rubber in my little listener’s mind, and that’s why I adore The Lemon Twigs. Crunchy Big Star guitar and brotherly harmonies entwine like two Carl Wilsons allow for room to roam, so let them run wild I don’t care. Speaking of late ’60s and early ’70s Brother-label-era Beach Boys, The Lemon Twigs new single, “I Just Can’t Get Over Losing You” from their forthcoming Look For Your Mind! is a fine example of pop perfectionism. It’s like a dessert item with three ingredients that seems simple but manages to be better each time you eat, or hear it. Skyward background harmony for fastening your seat belt on a lovely flight to where-eversville.
As the lights dimmed, an Alice In Wonderland looking human lingered in front of me, which I considered a good omen. Did I go ask Alice? No, I was fixed on a solo tour, I spoke to no one from the first note until the last, in between which flew 23 songs! Holy moly, I don’t know where to start…”I’ve Got A Broken Heart” from the LP of the same name had the crowd swaying knowingly, notably a young person in front of me, who would slowly reveal throughout the duration of the show to know every single word to every single song, but joyously dancing the whole time, which I found heartwarming.
In between The Twigs’ barrage of Byrds-y guitar, Bangles’-jangle, and addictive melodious assaults, a man sidled next to me with an audio EQ tablet, stealthy sharpening the brothers D’Addario’s giddily ginsu guitars. Moments later, a man cradling a 16mm film camera like a baby wobbled past; I hope he shot some good stuff to share with the band. A notable number of father and daughter and father son duos were at the show.
Addictively bounceable power pop tunes plumed one after another, erupting like an inviting volcano of smiles, the happy crowd a pyroclastic flow of reciprocity. “In My Head,” however (from Everything Harmony), hid its uncertain center beneath chiming cheerful riffs, the lyrics hardening like lava under the feet of an embolden tourist:
The feeling is cold and I’m afraid (strangers passing)
And I will be gone
Feeling nothing, feeling numb
Feeling nice
Made of neon shining ice (strangers passing)
The Lemon Twigs may be the Big Star of now, somehow too good for the mainstream, never a dud of a song to be found. The brothers literally jump-started several of their songs, the crowd roaring with delight at their crunchy guitars. Brian D’Addario delivered “Flash In The Pan” from his 2025 solo release Till The Morning, which sounded like an idyllic morning in the garden circa 1974. Shortly after charming with their new single “2 Or 3,” which to me sounds a cute cousin to Lennon’s lovely LSD lament “She Said She Said,” Michael D’Addario declared his dinner at Dave’s Hot Chicken to have been delectable, though he suggested that one do fear the reaper.
Their song “They Don’t Know How To Fall In Place,” also a good point: “When I was a boy I just wanted, I don’t know, someone to mess around with…”
Despite the title, “They Don’t Know How To Fall In Place” resolves so magically, like a parade passing by that you wish would go around the block and come past one more time. Which is the way I felt at the end of The Lemon Twigs concert at Turner Hall last night.
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